Infinite Ego plays acoustic, electric, fretless, and microtonal guitars; bass; guitar synth; lap steel; banjo; oud; sarod; drums and percussion. Savior Onasis is the ever-revolving, on-again-off-again rock group collaborating with the Infinite One. People come and go but the one constant has been sound designer and drummer Kristian Ball
In the recent past, Infinite Ego was the founding director of KronoSequence, a creative arts, improvisation, and multi-media project at the Kansas City Art Institute (2001-2003) and doyen of the now-defunct, online creative and experimental guitar collective known as Kronosonic (1999-2007) and the International Society for Creative Guitar and String Music. Currently, Ego is a solo artist, guiding light of Savior Onasis, educator, and writer. His musings and lessons have been used by Public Broadcasting (PBS), cited in academic works, and distributed to students throughout the world. Prior endeavors and earlier incarnations of Kronosonic were warmly greeted by college radio and Guitar One magazine that, in 2001, announced the arrival of a “chops monster†on the international guitar scene.
“...combine progressive guitar chops and adventurous feats of guitar synthesis with an obvious attentiveness to the compositional design of the song, and you have a foundation for great music. This is one of Ego’s best, and surely a strong indication of better and better things to come from this
ever-evolving guitarist.†Ken Rubenstein
"...his guitar playing is like a swinging headache ball, plowing through the aural walls of our world and sending all preconceptions to earth in a cloud of dusty feedback. Upon this wreckage he builds strange new structures. It's a terrible thing to witness -- and a whole lot of fun" StringDancer.com
“Infinite Ego...sure is a tasty, patient player! Enjoy Your Own Damn System is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of rock guitar instrumentals that always manage to slyly de-emphasize the fact that they’re rock guitar instrumentals. My favorite thing about IE’s music is that it always manages to convey a very convincing and very memorable sort of universal cinematic sweep, but you never loose sight of [his] personality and sensibilities either. That’s a hard balance to achieve, but [the album] is an effortless blend of catchy tunes, quirky nuances and mature rock guitar.†Dan Stearns
“Did a guitar ever seem so effortlessly played?†Todd Madson/Mad Sound
“Better heard than described, the music of Savior Onasis will challenge the senses, while transporting the listener to provocative and beautiful places.†Guitar Nine Records Guitar9.com
“A chops monster.“ Guitar One
“From the distorted alien FX and feedback that mark “The Omniarch†to the solo banjo piece, “The Gulf Of Silence,†the first release by post-rock outfit Savior Onasis—guitarist/leader Infinite Ego is an almost uproariously diverse collection of instrumentals that run the gamut of rock and non-rock styles. “Where Kansas City and the North Atlantic Collide†is split between a short volley of accordion, pizzicato violin and brass samples, and two minutes of ambient soundscaping. “Another Damn Blue Shirt†employs a “rock & roll†chamber quartet motif and samples by turntablist Detmold. The album’s crowning achievement is the fourteen minute-plus “No Other Sign,†which looses more bursts of Ozricoid loops at first, but gives way to a tougher power trio demeanor that sounds like Trey Gunn and Steve Hunter on a heavy fusion trip. Ego (playing a 7-string) and drummer Kristian Ball rock out and space out in this turbulent journey that serves to proffer more tasty licks than a doe on a salt block. “Steam Engine†is the second cousin of “No Other Sign,†“Gulf†is not dissimilar to what one encounters on Kyle Dawkins’ Solponticello release Conasauga, and “June Bug Jelly†also curbs its boisterous veneer to close the album on an acoustic note (two untitled hidden bonus tracks follow). It’s a shame a band of this caliber lingers (currently) in obscurity — let’s help to change that.†Sea of Tranquility
